Family shoot at the beach, Wellington

It sounds like an easy thing to find in Wellington – a beach where you can let your dog run around during a shoot – but not on a day when there’s a full-on Southerly blowing. Well, Kowhai would have been happy on any beach I imagine, but her owners’ faces would have been enshrouded by flying hair. It took a bit of scouting earlier in the day to find it, but Kau Bay must be the only beach to tick all the boxes: dogs allowed, North-facing, picturesque and amazingly sheltered. The water was so calm, and just a bit further out there were big white-tops.

Kowhai is just a young dog and she hasn’t been to the beach much, so she was in seventh heaven. And she made sure to share the joy by shaking off water all over everyone, numerous times – made for some great photos with a high shutter speed!

What a wonderful record of a special family time. I love the effects of the wind, and also the ones with the dog shaking itself dry.
You have captured the relationships with your camera and that is special.